W.C. Clark

[Jim R]

for being so blase about keeping up with such a GREAT artist. My God, I'm listening to his "Lover's Plea" CD (199flippin'8), and just wondering where my mind has been all these years. I remember seeing W.C. on Austin City Limits years ago (more than I'd like to admit right now), but I simply snoozed. Granted, I haven't focused on blues and soul nearly as much as jazz and/or brazilian music, but there's just no excuse. Ironically, I've been listening to a lot of O.V. Wright, Sam Cooke, and Al Green lately (and Little Milton), and then I stumble onto this, a recording by an artist who keeps that tradition alive (maybe an understatement- he may be raising the bar!).

Okay, enough confessing. Somebody please talk to me about this guy... is this really one of his best recordings? (I have a hard time imagining anything better). What else should I look for?

Edited November 17, 2006 by Jim R

[jazzbo]

Can't help you on recordings, I've never heard any. I got spoiled in that the first five years or so of my stay here in Austin I would go see W. C. ("Windy City") and his band in small clubs and dance and listen and even talk to him a few times. As far as I can tell a really nice man.

A great player and singer.

[Dan Gould]

Can't help you on recordings, I've never heard any. I got spoiled in that the first five years or so of my stay here in Austin I would go see W. C. ("Windy City") and his band in small clubs and dance and listen and even talk to him a few times. As far as I can tell a really nice man.

A great player and singer.

Jim,

This is the place to ask your question. Lots of people there like this guy and know all of his CDs. Its funny, but before I went whole hog into the blues in the last six months, I actually bought one of his CDs at Borders, not knowing who he was, and I never really enjoyed it enough to keep it. Now I'll probably end up re-buying the very same CD at some point.

Edited November 17, 2006 by Dan Gould

[Jim R]

Can't help you on recordings, I've never heard any. I got spoiled in that the first five years or so of my stay here in Austin I would go see W. C. ("Windy City") and his band in small clubs and dance and listen and even talk to him a few times. As far as I can tell a really nice man.

A great player and singer.

Jim,

This is the place to ask your question.

!! Aaauuugggghhhh! Another board to join?!

Thanks guys. I'll try to find some time to browse that board, Dan... not sure how much time I'll find, but I'll try. I just joined another board related to vintage brazilian music, which I haven't found a lot of time for, so I'm feeling kind of stretched lately. Lon, I wish I'd been at those clubs with you.

[Dan Gould]

Can't help you on recordings, I've never heard any. I got spoiled in that the first five years or so of my stay here in Austin I would go see W. C. ("Windy City") and his band in small clubs and dance and listen and even talk to him a few times. As far as I can tell a really nice man.

A great player and singer.

Jim,

This is the place to ask your question.

!! Aaauuugggghhhh! Another board to join?!

Thanks guys. I'll try to find some time to browse that board, Dan... not sure how much time I'll find, but I'll try. I just joined another board related to vintage brazilian music, which I haven't found a lot of time for, so I'm feeling kind of stretched lately. Lon, I wish I'd been at those clubs with you.

Tell you what, I'll post a question over there, I'm sure you'll see lots of advice in a day or two.

[Jim R]

[jazzbo]

Man, brotherly love is always happenin' at the Org!

(Yeah right, but in this case really nice offer Dan!)

[Soul Stream]

I've been playing some gigs with Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon (of Stevie Ray Vaughan's old band Double Trouble) lately, and we were talking about W.C. just a few days ago. W.C. was in a band way back with SRV and Lou Ann Barton (or was it Angela Strehli) called the Triple Threat Revue. W.C. has been around a loooong time and is still going strong. Several years ago he was coming back from a gig and was around Sherman, Texas when the van flipped and killed W.C's girlfriend and several band members. I think only W.C. and the bass player survived. Anyway, he's the real deal and then some. His Al Greenish vocals are always great to hear live....

[Jim R]

Yeah, I knew he'd been around a long time. I just looked at the Austin City Limits site, and that show I remember was aired in 1990 (recorded in '89), and he was already a legend then.

[Dan Gould]

Here you go, Jim:

http://blindman.forumhoster.com/index.php?...mp;#entry220439

Not too many responses, though there are at least a couple of CD recommendations.

[jazzbo]

Yeah, I knew he'd been around a long time. I just looked at the Austin City Limits site, and that show I remember was aired in 1990 (recorded in '89), and he was already a legend then.

He was already a seasoned member of the Austin Scene in 1980 when I first started seeing him. That would have been after his SRV time (I knew of Triple Threat of the seventies, but didn't think W. C. was involved).

The real deal as Mike says.

[Soul Stream]

I found this little SRV timeline that talks about the Triple Threat Revue. I guess in was '76...

http://www.texas-flood.com/index4_biography.htm

[Jim R]

Here you go, Jim:

http://blindman.forumhoster.com/index.php?...mp;#entry220439

Not too many responses, though there are at least a couple of CD recommendations.

Thanks Dan. I get a board error message (don't have permission to view the thread), because I wasn't a registered member. Yesterday, I noticed that some pages weren't viewable, but today I was able (still unregistered at the time) to open the home page and access threads by clicking on the forum headings on the left. I saw the "W.C. Clark" topic on the right side of the page (most recent topic in "The Blues Hangout" forum), but I couldn't open it. So, I opened "The Blues Hangout", and the W.C. Clark thread was not listed. Anyway, I registered. Now I have to wait for the administrator to grant me the privilege of viewing all threads.

[jazzbo]

I found this little SRV timeline that talks about the Triple Threat Revue. I guess in was '76...

http://www.texas-flood.com/index4_biography.htm

Cool, thanks Mike.

When I first saw W. C. he had a killer Hammond player in his band. He and Omar and the Howlers were the only two bands I remember with Hammond's prominently featured. Great stuff!

[Jim R]

I found this little SRV timeline that talks about the Triple Threat Revue. I guess in was '76...

http://www.texas-flood.com/index4_biography.htm

What a coincidence- I surfed onto that page last night, while casually looking for some info on SRV (I was listening to a boot of a concert he was involved in).

Incidentally, there seem to be some minor timeline errors there, fwiw.

"1980- Stevie Ray renames the group Double Trouble..."

"1981-Tommy Shannon replaces Jackie Newhouse on bass."

They were billed as "Double Trouble" at the 1979 SFBF, and Tommy Shannon was playing bass.

[Soul Stream]

I found this little SRV timeline that talks about the Triple Threat Revue. I guess in was '76...

http://www.texas-flood.com/index4_biography.htm

What a coincidence- I surfed onto that page last night, while casually looking for some info on SRV (I was listening to a boot of a concert he was involved in).

Incidentally, there seem to be some minor timeline errors there, fwiw.

"1980- Stevie Ray renames the group Double Trouble..."

"1981-Tommy Shannon replaces Jackie Newhouse on bass."

They were billed as "Double Trouble" at the 1979 SFBF, and Tommy Shannon was playing bass.

I'm not sure how it all shakes out. But Chris Layton told me the beginnings of SRV & Double Trouble...were Lou Ann Barton-Vocals

SRV-guitar & some vocals (he only sang Texas Flood & another song for a loooong time from what I was told)

Chris Layton-drums

Jackie Newhouse_bass